Getting there...
We've been having some glorious weather here recently. Although it is a bit too warm for my liking, it is nice to be able to enjoy it and not be panicking about whether there's enough. After the driest April on record last year we've now had the wettest for a hundred years and it shows. The grass is lush and the animals all look exceptionally well. I must find time to take some photos.
The book is still occupying every spare minute. I did meet the deadline for copy but since then I've been working on the bibliography and the footnotes. Now I have the actual page numbers so I'm putting together the index and doing a final check. It's very tedious but must be done as time is pressing. If anyone is interested in pre ordering it is now up on Amazon although the title has an error in the listing and there's no picture yet. It is still early days!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hobbit-Hero-Making-Tolkiens-King/dp/095519007X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338137155&sr=8-1
I've also finished the blurb on the back which was surprisingly difficult to do especially as I had to write a bit about myself. I managed to keep that to a minimum and it helped enormously that I was able to include my first review! Yay!
‘Aragorn’, the hero-king from The Lord of the Rings, is one of the pivotal figures of Tolkien’s mythology, but a detailed study of this popular character has been a notable omission from the spectrum of existing study. It is nearly forty years since Paul Kocher published his sympathetic analysis in The Master of Middle-earth and his has remained one of the most insightful studies available. With the subsequent publication of Tolkien’s letters, numerous versions of The Silmarillion and extensive material pertaining to the legendarium, we have opportunities unavailable to Kocher to further appreciate the character’s role and to explore Tolkien’s own aspirations for his king. By delving into this wealth of material, and returning to some of the principal legends that inspired Tolkien, the author unravels Aragorn’s evolution from the hobbit ‘Trotter’ into a great Númenórean king, and considers the consequences of this unexpected transformation, in particular, examining how Tolkien utilized the character to fulfil some of the more profound functions of his wider mythology.
“This exemplary book places Aragorn in his rightful place as one of the greatest heroes of any mythology. Beautifully researched, clearly written and quite entrancing, in this study Liz has explored in glorious detail her vision of this intriguing character. Whether you are a scholar, an aficionado or one of Tolkien’s millions of ardent fans, Hobbit to Hero is essential reading and will prove invaluable to your understanding of the heroic legendarium.”
Angela Gardner: Black and White Ogre Country: The Lost Tales of Hilary Tolkien.
A zoologist and former teacher, Liz rears pedigree sheep and cattle on her farm in the Cotswold Hills of her native Gloucestershire. She first discovered Tolkien as a child when she encountered The Hobbit in the 1960’s, and her enduring fascination with the Professor’s works has led her to write this book.
The book is still occupying every spare minute. I did meet the deadline for copy but since then I've been working on the bibliography and the footnotes. Now I have the actual page numbers so I'm putting together the index and doing a final check. It's very tedious but must be done as time is pressing. If anyone is interested in pre ordering it is now up on Amazon although the title has an error in the listing and there's no picture yet. It is still early days!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hobbit-Hero-Making-Tolkiens-King/dp/095519007X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338137155&sr=8-1
I've also finished the blurb on the back which was surprisingly difficult to do especially as I had to write a bit about myself. I managed to keep that to a minimum and it helped enormously that I was able to include my first review! Yay!
‘Aragorn’, the hero-king from The Lord of the Rings, is one of the pivotal figures of Tolkien’s mythology, but a detailed study of this popular character has been a notable omission from the spectrum of existing study. It is nearly forty years since Paul Kocher published his sympathetic analysis in The Master of Middle-earth and his has remained one of the most insightful studies available. With the subsequent publication of Tolkien’s letters, numerous versions of The Silmarillion and extensive material pertaining to the legendarium, we have opportunities unavailable to Kocher to further appreciate the character’s role and to explore Tolkien’s own aspirations for his king. By delving into this wealth of material, and returning to some of the principal legends that inspired Tolkien, the author unravels Aragorn’s evolution from the hobbit ‘Trotter’ into a great Númenórean king, and considers the consequences of this unexpected transformation, in particular, examining how Tolkien utilized the character to fulfil some of the more profound functions of his wider mythology.
“This exemplary book places Aragorn in his rightful place as one of the greatest heroes of any mythology. Beautifully researched, clearly written and quite entrancing, in this study Liz has explored in glorious detail her vision of this intriguing character. Whether you are a scholar, an aficionado or one of Tolkien’s millions of ardent fans, Hobbit to Hero is essential reading and will prove invaluable to your understanding of the heroic legendarium.”
Angela Gardner: Black and White Ogre Country: The Lost Tales of Hilary Tolkien.
A zoologist and former teacher, Liz rears pedigree sheep and cattle on her farm in the Cotswold Hills of her native Gloucestershire. She first discovered Tolkien as a child when she encountered The Hobbit in the 1960’s, and her enduring fascination with the Professor’s works has led her to write this book.